North Cyprus News - Cyprus Today 24th August 2019

This week’s North Cyprus News appearing in Cyprus Today’s 24th August 2019 edition isn’t really worth reading. We’ve included the first few paragraphs of the front page stories and any other stories which are mildly interesting – if we find any.

FRONT PAGE

‘SEAS USED AS OPEN SEWERS’ – GİRNE Municipality is facing a funding crisis over the urgent need to expand the capacity of an existing wastewater treatment plant — as Mayor Nidai Güngördü confirmed that raw sewage is routinely discharged into the sea.

Mr Güngördü said recently that a sewage treatment system designed for 15,000 people could not cope with a “population explosion to over 100,000, including students and tourists”, adding: “No mayor wants to pollute his own coast.”

On Tuesday he revealed to Cyprus Today that the council could not apply to Turkey or the EU for funding.

Turkey’s president welcomes PM Tatar – Prime Minister Ersin Tatar and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan give a joint press conference in Ankara on Thursday, when Mr Erdoğan vowed to continue to defend the rights of the TRNC.

TURKISH officials have given the green light for a 750 million TL cash injection to start flowing into the TRNC, Prime Minister Ersin Tatar declared yesterday — with plans for a second monetary boost in the pipeline.

Erdoğan ‘closely following’ Maraş reopening, IPC – TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is “closely following” the issue of reopening the closed part of Maraş (Varosha) and the work of the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), he said at a press conference with Prime Minister Ersin Tatar in Ankara on Thursday.

The remarks came just days after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced a November 4 deadline for submissions for cases concerning Greek Cypriot applications relating to property inside Maraş.

The “ghost town”, which sits within the TRNC’s borders, has remained uninhabited for 45 years and is under military control.

‘Number of tourists from UK down 60%’ – TOURIST numbers from the UK to North Cyprus have plummeted “by up to 60 per cent” in a year, a leading London travel agent has claimed, amid calls for urgent action from the government.

Safet Başpınarlı, owner of the Happy Days Holiday travel agency in north London, said that Turkish Cypriot officials had repeatedly failed to deliver on previous pledges to boost the tourism sector.

Police probe ‘cruelty at İskele Animal Shelter’ – POLICE have launched an animal cruelty investigation into İskele Animal Shelter after images and video of “suffering” emerged on social media.

Police took action following a complaint by animal rights advocate Ralph Purcell, who shared a post on the North Cyprus Animal Carers Group Facebook page.